Weightlifting is not a modern hobby or concept. Go back 50, 60, 80, even 100 years back and you will find strongmen and lifters of all sizes. But the lifters then did not have machines, treadmills, cardio bikes, or even barbells/free weights you have today in the gym. They didn't even have real gyms because there weren't any around. The concept of gym memberships did not exist in 1890.
There were vacation resorts and clubs for the rich but none that specifically focused on lifting weights. Finding a barbell or any free weights was rare. But many old time lifters and strongmen still lifted. They became resourceful lifters. They lifted with whatever they could find: logs, sandbags, sledgehammers, barrels, dragged sleds, backpacks, heavy sheets of metal, poles, rocks, anything heavy they found... they lifted.
They didn't care if the object wasn't grip-friendly or tough to handle. They just lifted, built callouses, subjected themselves to progressive pressure, and toughened their bodies over the years.
Dynamic Strongman Training
These strongmen trained very dynamically. They climbed ropes, hiked mountains and valleys, scaled cliffs and valleys, chopped wood, used rice buckets for grip work, boxed with each other, jumped, ran, and hill sprinted. The lack of official gym equipment, equipment we know today, did not stop them from training. They just lifted whatever heavy stuff and things they found. And they built the muscles and physiques to show for their hard work and efforts.
Look at guys like Alan Calvert, Eugene Sandow, Charles Batta, George Zottman, Felice Napoli, Charles Pelan and all those early strongmen and bodybuilders of the 2-s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. They found creative ways to train when they did not have formal equipment lying around. They didn't have protein supplements or steroids either . They just trained intensely, used heavy objects and weights, and ate a ton for building lean muscle mass.
They kept it all very simple. Why do complex and complicated training when simple will do the job. When all else fail, follow the examples of these old school lifters and KISS (keep it simple, stupid!).
Resistance is Resistance
A 50 pounds pile of chopped wood is the same as 50 pound dumbbell or barbell. If you can find any heavy object, heavy enough that you're not used to handling or lifting, lift it over and over again, you will grow bigger muscles and get stronger all around. This is what old school lifting is.
Lift heavy and eat a lot. Don't worry so much about the actual equipment you're using. Equipment are just tools or pillars to fitness. Sometimes they can even be distracting and put you on the wrong track since you're stressing about having to choose which equipment or machine to train with. The truth is, they all work depending on what your goals are.
Think about training for function, strength and muscle by using multiple tools (equipment). Missing just one crucial tool won't hurt your progress. You can always find alternatives if you look hard enough. Being too focused on equipment will distract you.
Modern Gym Distractions
In today's commercialized gyms, we're so easily distracted by those shiny fancy machines with the radio and wide screen television playing in front of the stationary bikes. It's not uncommon to see a frat boy talking on his cell phone and doing concentration curls at the same time. When I used to work out in the gym, I even saw some soccer moms biking slowly while they're reading a magazine or the newspaper, taking breaks to glance up at the infomercial being played on the wide screen set above.
If you're going to train in the gym, train seriously. Eliminate the distractions and pay no attention to the non-productive events in the gym. Don't waste all your time on the treadmill or bike. Don't be afraid to tackle the free weights, the barbells, the dumbbells, and the squat rack. Don't spend more than 5 minutes between sets. And do not waste time wallowing around the gym like it's a party.
Often, the gym will add some new brand name resistance machine or the latest magnetic stationary bike to wow the gym population. They might install a new extra wide screen high definition TV in front of the treadmill stations.
The old time lifters did not care about any of this. They only cared about the basics of consistent training, using heavy weights, and eating plenty of carbs and proteins. If things got hard or they get stuck, they didn't quit.
They worked and continued to train in different ways using various exercise modalities and stuck through to it without ever giving up.
Back-to-Basics Strength Training
You can learn a lot about old school training with just following the basics. It's back-to-basics training, back-to-roots training. Check out the following articles to for some specific plans on fundamental strength training using the basics of heavy free weights, compound lifts, and progressive overload,
- Minimalist Strength Training for the Busy Professional
- 3x5/5x5 Mass Gain Program for Strength and Size
- Old School Dinosaur Training
Brooks Kubick, a national powerlifting champion and author of "Dinosaur Training" had this to say about basic back-to-our roots strength training on page 15,
"Dinosaur training is basic training the way it used to be done before steroids, armchair theorizers and commercial interests got things off track. It is like General Patton's philosophy of war: "simple, direct and brutal." It is rugged, it is tough, and it is demanding. It also is incredibly result-producing...STRENGTH IS EVERYTHING IN DINOSAUR TRAINING..."
He goes on to say,
"To be a dinosaur, you must literally become obsessed with the idea of adding more and more weight to the bar in every exercise you do. You must revel in the battle against heavier and heavier poundages. You must view the acquisition of raw, pulverizing power and brutal strength as your most important physical goal..."
From page 17,
"Dinosaurs like to lift heavy, awkward objects--logs, barrels and heavy sandbags. Anvils are also great. Any big slab of stone--any enormous log--any heavy steel barrel--any heavy bag of sand or lead shot will be a dinosaur's delight. Why? Because lifting heavy, awkward objects builds muscle in ways that barbells cannot duplicate."
You can pick up a copy of "Dinosaur Training" at Brookskubick.com . If you're currently stuck or "de-motivated" consider dinosaur training as a fresh new start. Classic weightlifting is simple but demands tough hard training.
The mentality is what ultimately matters when it comes to effective strength and conditioning training for building strength, muscle, losing fat, and changing your body composition. If you can sink this idea of no-nonsense, old school classic weightlifting into your mind, you will be more resilient in the gym with greater motivation to train for greater muscle and strength gains.
Here's Brooks Kubik himself doing a bottom bench press with 455 lbs,
Here's him doing a push press with 302 lbs,
And here's 440 lbs bottom-position squat,
We've been too distracted, too caught up, by the "noises" of training. These noises, cleverly marketed schemes of late night and afternoon infomercials on exercise gadgets (ab belt) , supplements, dieting pills, secret programs you name it. They're all crap that doesn't work but to serve as a distraction from productive training.
John Davis, a six time world champion and two time olympic champion in olympic lifting was the first man in history to clean and jerk over 400 pounds and this was in 1951 before the time of steroids of anabolic substances. This was before coaches, trainers, and exercise physiologists came up with complex periodization schemes and programs for lifting.
Davis didn't have all the advantages of advanced exercise science research but what he did have was the willingness to work hard and commit to consistent training. He didn't have a lot of options. To get ahead, he had to work hard, use heavy weights and lift. There were no supplements back then. He didn't have any crutches and pillars to distract him. So he had only one direction. Lift or quit.
Today, with all the options, tools, supplements, and different ways of training, we become too distracted with too much planning and not enough doing, too much procrastination and pondering.
We became lazy to activity and exercise as a population because it seems like work, forgetting that it's actually fun since there's lots of ways you can workout and strength train. To combat this lethargy and laziness, follow these 2 rules of old school lifting to get yourself back to productive strength training.
The 2 Rules of Old School Lifting
Lift Heavy
Whatever equipment you use, go heavy...heavy while controlling the weight. This goes for barbells, dumbbells, sandbags, rocks, weight vest, barrels, sledgehammers, tires, dragging sleds, pushing cars. Old school strongmen lifters did not pretend to flare their invisible lats or flex their biceps in the gym to impress anyone.
They weren't distracted by hot girls wearing skimpy workout clothing. They didn't go up to the mirror every 30 seconds to check out their own muscles. After all, if you have the physique and confidence, you'll look the part of a dedicated lifter.
Use heavy weights, heavy enough that you can execute with good form without excessive swinging, cheating, and momentum. Find something heavy and lift it...over and over again.
Classic weightlifting is the way to go when all else fail.
Progressive Overload
The old schoolers didn't agonize over which cardio machine to use. With exercise programming, they didn't even care about structuring their workouts by counting and planning reps, sets, volume, frequency, rest pause, drop sets, negatives, or periodization schemes. These bodybuilding jargon and words weren't even in their vocabulary.
They just stacked more weight onto the bar and used heavier sandbags, logs, rocks, (insert heavy object) whenever they can. If they adjusted to a certain weight or object, they proceeded to go heavier once the body has adapted to the strength limit. This is what progressive overload is all about. Continue to challenge your body by using ever-increasing loads.
If you bench pressed 100 lbs yesterday and worked your way up to 300 lbs in 2 years, then you're improved significantly. You've applied progressive overload with weight progression. Your body would adjust and you will get stronger and more muscular.
Let's take this concept of back-to-basics old school lifting and the 2 no-nonsense rules of lifting further and see how you can use it in your strength training workouts with 3 more rules in the next article of the "KISS with Old School Lifting" series.
Train Hard. Train Safely. Train Smart.
If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to leave a comment below or you can email me at ZQH245@gmail.com or ZQH250@gmail.com
photo credits:
oldtimestrongman.com
jontunn
jontunn
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